Lynda Rife, founder of public relations firm Rifeline, has been a passionate advocate for community participation in the project development process ever since she started the company from the back of her white Chrysler Sebring in 2002. The belief that community input improves projects is core to Rifeline’s mission.

Austin is a rapidly growing city, and existing infrastructure is struggling to keep up. City and state agencies are scrambling to accommodate population growth that is overwhelming the transportation network. Some of the major projects include:

• TxDOT’s Mobility35 Capital Express Program, which will reduce congestion and increase safety along the I-35 corridor.
• CapMetro’s Project Connect, which aims to improve the public transportation network for the entire Central Texas region, including new light rail, a subway under downtown and an accessible bus system to better connect neighborhoods in and outside Austin.
• The City of Austin’s Corridor Mobility Program, which focuses on the development, design, and construction of mobility, safety, and connectivity improvements on nine major Austin corridors.

What does Rifeline do?

Rifeline is a public relations firm that works to connect the community to projects including those mentioned above. They specialize in providing strategic communications and community engagement services on transportation, water, education, and other projects, largely in the Central Texas region. There’s a good chance that one of the fact sheets, flyers, or newspaper ads you’ve seen for these projects was designed by the firm. They help to plan public meetings by finding venues, creating promotional materials, and developing engaging materials that are easy to understand and provide opportunity for feedback. After meetings, they work together with the project team to process public feedback and create summary reports for public review. But most importantly, they work to ensure that projects reflect what’s important to the community.

Aside from event planning, staffing, and information processing, Rifeline also have several professional drone pilots on staff who provide aerial photography and videography to create compelling visuals.

Where can you learn more?

The I-35 Capital Express Central program is currently in the technical study phase, which is conducted as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. If you’d like more information about this project or to leave a comment, you can visit https://my35capex.com/projects/i-35-capital-express-central/.

Project Connect is moving forward with the voter approved initial investment now, and the full system plan which includes extending the new light rail lines, more MetroRapid and MetroExpress bus services, along with additional Park & Rides and Pickup on demand circulators has also been approved. To learn more about Project Connect, visit https://projectconnect.com.

The City of Austin Corridor Mobility Program is in the project design phase. You can learn more about the program on their website.

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